Ariana and the Scabbard
by ArianatheEchidna
Summary: Ariana the Echidna was just reading a book that she had borrowed from Sonic when it suddenly sucked her in. Now, She's in "sonic and the Black Knight" and so are the Heartless and the evil Karaleena the Echidna. Will she be able to save Camelot! R
1. Chapter 1

_**Ariana and the Scabbard**_

**Chapter 1**

Ariana's POV  
_(One day, at the Sonic Diner)_

It's just another day in Station Square. I was just hanging out with my friends, Melodey, Keenan, and the blue blur himself...Sonic, at Doc's diner. Sonic ordered some chili dogs while I just had some Sprite. As for Mel n' Keen.... Mel's on her laptop while Keenan's leaning against the wall, relaxing.  
"So, Sonic, we still gonna hang at the park?" I asked. He and I planned to hang there for a while and...maybe have a little FUN with our extreme gears while we're at it.  
"You bet, Ari, but I have to get my board first."  
"Don't tell me you forgot about it."  
"Hey, I don't ALWAYS forget."  
"Yeah...tell THAT to Amy." I laughed. Sonic frowned at me.  
"OK, you two. Enough bickering." Keenan commented.  
"Keen's right. Why don't I go get your board for ya?"  
"Nah, I got a better idea," he said. I looked at him confused.

About like 5 minuets later, Sonic and I were at his house.  
"OK, I wanted to show you something BEFORE we go to the park." He said. He then dashed to another room and came back with something in his hands.... a BOOK?  
"What's that, Sonic?"  
"Why don't ya read the cover and find out?" He grinned as he handed me the book. My eyes widen as I read "Sonic and the Black Knight" on the cover.  
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!" He laughed at me.  
"This was one of the two stories that I got sucked into."  
"You mean, THIS was 'King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table'?"  
"That's right. That was also that day that Amy got mad at me for forgetting about our date." We began laughing.  
"Wow. I've heard about getting sucked into books, but THIS is nuts! What's it like?"  
"...Confusing at first, but I got used to it." I looked at him confused. "You see, some of the characters that I met look JUST like one of our friends." He took the book from my hands and opened it to a page with three knights. My eyes widen. All I see was Blaze, Knuckles and Shadow as knights.  
"Wait, that's Blaze....Knuckles...and Shadow!"  
"Yeah, but Blaze's Percival, Knuckles' Gawain, and Shadow's Lancelot."  
"Wow. Is there any OTHER look-a-likes that I need to know?"  
"Yup. A blacksmith that looks like Tails and the Lady of the Lake looks like Amy. That's just about it."  
"Hey....do ya mind if I borrow it?"  
"Sure, no problem. I'm sure you'll like it." He smiled at me and he handed the book back to me. "Now, c'mon. Let's head to the park."  
"Right!" I said as I put the book in my backpack and went out the door with him to the park.

_**Note from ArianatheEchidna: **I am SO, SO sorry that I haven't posted ANYTHING up in such a long time. I've been REALLY distracted lately. So I desited(sp?) to post my newest Mini Series story up. Don't worry, I WILL finish the other stories. Oh, BTW, I WILL be doing some MAGER edditing on "Turn from the Light" and "the Emerald of Memories". So, look out! XD_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Ariana's POV  
_(Three Days later, in her room at Chris' Mansion)_

It's been days since I started to read Sonic's book. The book was SO interesting, that I couldn't put it down. As I read the last few pages, I began to chuckle to myself.

_Sonic being the true King Arthur? Man, I'm shocked. I'm sure Sonic was too._ I thought as I closed the book and placed it on the side of my bed, but just as I was bout to leave, it suddenly opened up all by itself and the pages began to glow. "What the?" I slowly walk towards it but then it began to suck me in. I cautiously grabbed the floor, clawing it as it was sucking me in. "What's going on!?" I screamed, but then I lost my grip on the floor and got sucked right into the book.

I'm not sure how long I've been out, but as I slowly opened my eyes I found myself in an open field. I slowly got up and began looking around.

"W…Where am I?" I asked. Suddenly something hit me. _Am I in…Camelot!? _I was in complete shock. This area that I'm in was the FIRST place where Merlina summoned Sonic. "This is too weird…" I said to myself, couldn't believe my eyes. I then heard a scream somewhere close by. I dashed towards it to see a young girl in a cloak. _Merlina_! I thought, recognizing her from the story, but then I noticed something that made me shocked and angry. _Heartless!? What the heck are THEY doing here!? _I quickly shook my head as I quickly dashed forward and killed two of them and got in front of Merlina. She was looking at me as if frightened yet amazed at the same time. "Yo, Heartless! How's about ya'll worry about me!?" I gloat as I stick my tongue at them. They got ticked off as they dashed straight at me. With a smirk, I dashed at them dead on and killed all on them with one slice of my Hylian's Light keyblade. This made Merlina amazed even more. I looked at her with a smile as I put away my keyblade. "You OK, miss?" I asked her as I helped her up on her feet.

"Yes, I'm fine." She said. She brushed off her cloak and removed her hood so I can see her face and her purple hair. "Thank you. Who are you?"

"The name's Ariana the Echidna." I said. "And what's yours?"

"My name is Merlina, the granddaughter of the great wizard Merlin."

"I've heard of him." I said as I crossed my arms.

"You must be one of Sonic's friends, aren't you?" She asked. I nodded.

"You bet. Speaking of which, were you trying to summon Sonic here again for help?" She looked at me confused.

"No….I wasn't." My eyes widen.

"Wait, if YOU didn't made the book suck me in here, then WHO did?" Suddenly an evil laughter was heard as we turned to see who it was; Karaleena the Echidna. I growled in rage. "YOU!!!"

"Aw, not happy to see me, Protector of Time?" She said with a smirk.

"So, it was YOU who sent the Heartless here!"

"Who ELSE do you think, kid? _Merlin?_ He's dead, so it COULDN'T be him." She began laughing. I growled demonic like as I redrew my keyblade and dashed at her.

"YOU'RE SO DEAD!!!" I snarled, but then she vanished in thin air. "What the-!?" She suddenly appeared behind me, slashing at me with a dagger as I screamed in pain. She then slammed me on the ground, causing me to cough up blood. Just as she was about to finish me, someone screamed "Halt!" Through my blurry vision, I saw three figures, with swords in hands. Karaleena growled as she vanished in thin air. I then blacked out by the horrible pain in my body and lack of air.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Note from ArianatheEchidna: **OK, Here's the third chapter. Note that GOTHICA THE HEDGEHOG'S in this story. Amber said I could use her in it. XD Well, enjoy!!!!_

**Chapter 3**

Ariana's POV  
_(One day later, one morning)_

"Miss? Miss, wake up," said a male voice that was echoing in my head earlier. I weakly opened my eyes to find myself in a room on a bed. I looked around, trying to find out were I am, but then I noticed a male blue and blacked stripped hedgehog in armor by the door. My eyes widen as I recognized him…though his face has been covered by his helmet.

"Ch…Chen?!" I asked him. He looked like he was confused.

"Who is this Chen you spoke of, miss? I am Sir Safir, Knight of the Round Table." He said. I got confused.

_He looks so much like him. _I thought, but then a female black and pink stripped hedgehog in armor shows up. My eyes widen even more. "Gothica!?"

"You have been mistaken. My name is Lady Palamedes." I quickly shook my head.

"Man…I musta got slammed harder than I thought…" I said. I suddenly hear a giggle as I saw Merlina standing with the two knights.

"Are you alright, Ariana?" She asked me.

"I'm fine….just a head ache." She laughed at me even more as I got off the bed.

"I'm still amazed that you recovered so fast."

"It comes with this whole 'Protector of Time'thing." I walked up to her. "So, who were those three guys that showed up anyway?"

"Those were Lady Percival, Sir Lancelot and Sir Gawain." Lady Palamedes spoke. "They and Merlina were the ones who brought you here a day ago."

"A DAY AGO!!!??" I screamed, sounding confused.

"Yes, a day ago. You were out cold for a while."

"Oh, that's JUST great!" I frowned. Merlina giggled.

"Come on, Ariana. I think you should meet the others." She said. I nodded as I followed her, Palamedes and Safir down stairs and into a room with a huge round table. Sitting there were those three knights I saw earlier and that I remembered from the story with the three other knights. One looks like Silver. Another one looks like Jet. And then the last one looks like Keenan. I frowned since I've been getting them confused for a while now. "Ariana, I want you to meet the other surviving Knights of the Round Table; Sir Lancelot ((Shadow)), Sir Gawain ((Knuckles)), Lady Percival ((Blaze)), Sir Galahad ((Silver)), Sir Lamorak ((Jet)) and Sir Gingalain ((Keenan))." I waved "hi", but then it hit me. _Surviving knights!?_

"Hey, what do you mean 'surviving knights', Merlina? What happened to the others?"

"The others were killed by those black creatures." Sir Galahad spoke, sounding unhappy about it.

"They never stood a chance against them and that sorreress." Sir Gingalain added. I frowned.

"Karaleena's not gonna get away with this." I said, now sounding mad.

"So, who were they, Ariana?" Merlina asked.

"Those things are known as the Heartless…hearts that have been turned over by darkness. If they steal your heart, you'll turn into them as well. As for that lady, THAT was Karaleena the Echidna, the badest of the worse…especially for men."

"How come?" Gawain asked, which I personally wished he didn't.

"She seduces them and kills them with a poison kiss." All of the Knights' (maybe including Safir's) eyes widen in shock. "Yeah…THAT bad."

"So, what does she want?" Lamorak asked. I shrugged.

"I dunno. That's what I'm gonna find out." I said, but just as I was about to walk away, Percival stopped me.

"You cannot go out there all by yourself, Ariana. It's too risky."

"Ha! Risky is my middle, Percival. Don't worry, I'll take care of myself."

"Let some of us at least lend in a helping hand." She said. I began to think.

_I dunno if it's such a good idea, but as long as some of them stays close with me, they could be safe. _I thought then nodded. "OK, Who would like to tag along?" Gingalain stood up.

"I will, milady." He said. Both Safir and Palamedes came up to me.

"We will too." Palamedes said. I smiled.

"Alright! You three just stay close with me, OK?"

"Will do, Ariana." Safir said. Lancelot stood up.

"The rest of us will be in town in case you need some more help. I suggest that you go visit the blacksmith and get your sword checked out first." I blinked in confusion as I quickly took out my keyblade to noticed that it's all beat up badly. "Once you're done getting it fixed up, you should see Nimue, the Lady of the Lake. She may know what's going on." I nodded.

"OK, thanks for the tip, Lancelot. C'mon guys, let's go!" I dashed off as the other three knights followed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Ariana's POV

We've just arrived at the blacksmith's workshop in town and saw him at the counter. Once again, I recognized him as Tails.

"Man, TOO many look-a-likes. You must be the blacksmith, correct?" I asked him. He nodded.

"I'm sure am, ma'am. How can I help you?" I took out my kayblade and how it to him. He looked at it in shock. "Whoa! What an incredible sword! I never saw anything like THIS before!"  
"It's called a 'Keyblade.' I really need to have this fixed up."

"Sure, no problem. This'll take me a second, ma'am." He said as he takes the kayblade from my grasp.

_Oh, PLEASE don't disappear and reappear back into my grasp._ I begged to myself as he walked away. I then sighed in relief.

"Hey, what is up, milady?" Gingalain asked me.

"It's nothin', Gingalain. It's just that the keyblade kinda has a mind of its own and whenever someone besides me gets the hold of it….it usally disappears then reappears back into my hands. It's weird like that."

"Well, it's probably a sacred sword. Only YOU can weiled such a weapon like it." Safir commented. I chuckled.

"Maybe you're right. Say, why can't ya remove your helmit so I can see your face?" I asked. He turned his head away from me.

"A warrior like I should NEVER should do such thing." I sighed.

"OK, if ya say so." Then the blacksmith returns with my keyblade, which is now looking brand new.

"Here you go, ma'am. All fixed up and ready to go." He said as he handed me my keyblade.

"Thanks so much, Ta- I mean, sir."

"It's no problem. Feel free to stop by anytime." I nodded as Safir, Gingalain, Palamedes and I left the building and start heading out of the town, but just as we were about to leave, we saw Lancelot standing by the exit, waiting for us. He looked up to see us.

"I see that your sword's all fixed up." I nodded.

"You bet it is." He smirked as he then took out a map and handed it over to me.

"This will lead you to the lake where you'll meet Nimue. Be careful." He said. I nodded once again.

"Thanx, Lacelot and don't worry…we'll be alright. C'mon, let's go!" I said as we started out of town to the woods.

About like hours later we're all still somewhere in the woods, looking for a path that should lead us to the lake.

"Man! This is like finding a needle in a haystack!" I said. Palamedes took the map from me, checking it yet again.

"Hmm…We should be able to follow this path here."

"OK, didn't we just TAKE that one already, Palamedes?" I asked. She shooked her head.

"I don't think so, Ariana."

"Alright then! Let's go!" I said, but then we heard a branch crack.

"What was that?" Gingalain asked. Then…ten of the Heartless appear all around us.

"Ha! Looks like they've just rolled out a welcome mat for us, guys!" I quickly took out my keyblade and got into my fighting stance as the other three knights did the same. "Let's take 'em out!" Each of us then charged at one of the Heartless and began fighting them. Everytime one of us killed one of them, MORE of them start showing up. Safir killed some that were about to attack me from behind while Palamedes and Gingalain doubled teamed on two of them. I then finally got more ticked as MORE of them shows up again. "OK, that does it!" I quickly took out my Light Medallion then called out, "Light!!"….but nothing happened. I looked confused as I tried again to go into Light Ariana. Once again…nothing happened. "What the heck? I CAN'T GO INTO ANY OF MY SAGE FORMS!!!!!????" I screamed. Then one of the Heartless scratches me from behind as I screamed in pain. More of them then tackled me to the ground as I struggled to break free.

"Ariana!!" The three knights yelled, but suddenly a gust of wind appears as the Heartlesss then disappears off of me. As I got up, I saw who done it. My eyes widen.

"SONIC!!!" I screamed. The familiarblue hedgehog turns around to look at me and smirks.

"Hey, Ari! You OK?" He asked. I nodded as I then saw a sword in his hands, but I quickly shook my head.

"How did you get into the book?"

"Long story. At least I got to you in time, didn't I?"

"Yeah, I'll say." I smiled. He smiled back.

"Sonic, behind you!" Said a male voice. Sonic quickly grip his sword as he sliced the Heartless in half that was about to attack him. "A knight MUST be on his guard, remember?"

"Sorry, Caliburn. It's been a while, OK? Cut me some slack, will ya?" My eyes widen.

"Caliburn!!??" I looked at the sword again as it suddenly spoke, "That's right, I am the sacred sword known as Caliburn." I screamed and fell onto my rear.

"Ahh! A talking sword!!!" I screamed.

"And you call yourself a knight. Pathetic. You're more likely a knave."

"Hey!" I yelled as I got up to my feet, now looking mad. "I'm no knave! I'm Ariana the Echidna, the Protector of Time and the chosen wielder of the keyblade! I've been fighting those Heartless since day one!"

"You're nothing but an amateur." I finally snapped.

"Oh, why you little-!?" Sonic quickly broke me and Caliburn apart.

"Break it up! This isn't the perfect time to argue!" He said.

"Make him stop calling me a knave then!" I said. Sonic sighed.

"Look, Ari. You gotta calm down. Besides, we NEED to see Nimue first." I sighed.

"You're right. Let's get goin'." He patted me on the back as we started off to the lake with Sonic and Caliburn leading the way. "I still don't understand though. How come I can't go into any of my Sage Forms?"

"It's probably because you never been into a world that is in a story book." Sonic said. "I'm sure you'll be able to soon."

"…I hope you're right, Sonic."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Sonic's POV

_(About 2 hours later)_

We've, finally and "painfully" (Because of Ariana and Caliburn arguing along the way! ) arrived at the lake.

"Is this it, Sonic?" Ariana asked. I nodded.

"Of course it is, Knave." Caliburn said. I smacked my head.

"OK, now you're _really _starting to bug me, ya stupid sword!"

"How dare you!" I quickly separated them from each other calmly.

"This is not helping, guys. PLEASE, PLEASE behave." I said to them. They both sighed.

"I suppose we could try to tolerate with each other." Said Caliburn. Ariana nodded as she crossed her arms.

"I agree. Besides, I REALLY don't like to argue with anyone very much." She said. Then, Nimue appears before Me, Caliburn, Ariana, Sir Safir, Sir Gingalain, and Lady Palamedes. Ariana's eyes widen, but she quickly shook her head.

"I've been waiting for your return, King Sonic and also with your arival, young warrior from another world." Nimue spoke, looking at Me and Ariana.

"It's really nice to see you too, Nimue," I said. "But, we need your help."

"I know why you all came here. It's about that sorceress and those black creature, isn't it?"

"That's right," Ariana said. "Please, Nimue, I need to know why Karaleena and the Heartless are here. What are they up to?" Nimue suddenly frowns.

"I know why they came. They're after something."

"Huh? What do they want?" Safir asked. Nimue looked at me, Caliburn and Ariana.

"You three know what she want." We looked at her confused, but Ariana began to think. I looked at her with concern. She suddenly gasped.

"The scabbard!" I looked at her confused, but then I remembered.

"That's right! The one that fony King Arthur had! He and Merlina almost brought this whole land into ruin with its power!" Nimue nodded.

"You two are right."

"Then, we gotta make sure that _Karaleena_ dosen't get the hold of it!" Gingalain said.

"Indeed you must. The scabbard has been safly hidden away. Only Sir Galahad and Sir Lamorak knows where it is."

"Great, thanks for the tip, Nimue, but I also want to ask ya somethin'," Ariana said. "For some reason I can't go into any of my Sage Forms. How am I suppose to fight her and the Heartless without them. My keyblade alone doesn't stand a chance with Karaleena." Nimue suddenly raised her hand as she somehow made Ariana's keyblade appeare and magically made it float right out of her graps. She then made it come to her as it then began to glow. The glow blinded us. Then, as we were able to open our eyes, Ariana's keyblade was no longer a keyblade. It had been changed into a sword; its handle looks a lot similar to what Caliburn has, but it's all silver and it still has the keychain. Its blade is pure gold and has all six of Ariana's Sage Medallions welded into it.

"This is the Blade of Sages," Nimue said. "It holds the same power and the abilities as a keyblade. As long as you weild this…you'll be able to freely change into any of your forms as you please. Use it well, young Knight of Time." She then magically handed it back into Ariana's hand. Ariana exammed(sp?) it for a while and made some slashes with it.

"Awesome!" She said with a grin. I chuckled slightly.

"C'mon, guys," I said. "We gotta get back to the castle." They nodded in agreement. I looked back at Nimue. "Thanks for your help, Nimue." She nodded.

"Any time, King Sonic." I smiled as we all headed out back to the castle, leaving her and the lake behind.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Ariana's POV

Me, Caliburn, Sonic, Safir, Gingalain, and Palamedes had arrived back in Camelot, but the whole town's compleetly diserted. No one in the streets…Lancelot, Percival and Gawain's nowhere to be found. I can EVEN find Galahad or Lamorak.

"Strange…" I said. "Not a soul in sight." Gingalain looked around.

"Father! Are you here?" He yelled, but there was no reaspons from Gawain.

"This is bad…" I said. Sonic nodded in agreement.

"Let's go to the castle." He said. We all nodded and started off to the castle.

As we got there, nothing. The whole place seems to be empty, but suddenly we head a scream of pain. It was from Lancelot! We quickly ran towards the scream and came to the room with that huge round table to find both Percival and Gawain on the ground, badly wounded and Karaleena, who has the badly wounded Lacelot pinned to the wall.

"Now, lemme ask ya again. Where are Galahad and Lamorak?" She asked forcefully.

"There's no way I'll tell you where they are, witch!" He screamed. She frowned and slamed him against the wall, making him scream even more.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE, KARALEENA!!!" I yelled. She turned to see me, Sonic, Caliburn and the three other knights.

"Ah, Ariana. You're still alive." She said.

"No thanks to you, creep! Now, put Lacelot down!" She smirked and drops him onto the floor. She then noticed my new sword.

"Hmm, It seems that you got an upgrade," She took out her staff. "But too bat that it wouldn't matter, I'm afraid." I grinned.

"Bring it, old hag!" She clenched her teeth angerly.

"You're gonna regret those words, brat!" Her staff glows red as she said something in japanese and send a wave of fire at me, but I dogged it. My whole body began to glow yellow as I was about to go into my Light Form. Suddenly, I'm covered in yellow armor. Not letting it bother me that much I rushed at Karaleena and began slashing at her with now TWO Blades of Sages none stop. I kept at it until she was on her knees. She smirked. "See ya later, kid." She said as she vanished into the darkness and as I went back to normal.

"She got away!" Gingalain yelled.

"Don't worry about her." I said as I helped Lancelot to his feet. "You OK, Lancelot?"

"I-I'm fine." He said as Palamedes and Safir helpped Percival and Gawain to their feets. Sonic walked up to Lacelot.

"What happened here?" He asked.

"S-She and the Heartless came. T-They're after Galahad and Lamorak."

"Where are they?"

"T-The cave… T-That cave were you took out that dragon."

"Wait, they hid the scabbard THERE?" I asked. He weakly nodded.

"OK, so NOW we know where they went. We gotta go after them." Said Sonic. I shook my head.

"By 'we', you mean Me, Safir, Gingalain, and Palamedes." He looked at me confused.

"What are you saying, Ariana?"

"I'm saying that you should stay here with Lancelot, Gawain, Percival and Merlina, Sonic."

"No way, Ariana! You don't know-"

"Please, Sonic. You have to stay here." He sighed.

"Alright, I'll stay, but please be careful." I nodded.

"I will, Sonic. C'mon, guys! Let's get a move on find Galahad and Lamorak!" Safir, Gingalain, and Palamedes nodded as we stormed off.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Ariana's POV

Just as we were about to leave town, Sonic suddenly shows up in front of us.

"Ok, DIDN'T I just told you to stay here?" I asked, now getting anoid(sp?).

"You did, BUT I want Safir, Palamedes and Gingalain to stay with me as well." I looked at him confused. He then suddenly handed Caliburn to me. Now I'm even MORE confused. "Plus I want you to take Caliburn with you." Both me and Caliburn looked at him in shock.

"WHAT?!!!" We yelled. "ARE YOU CRAZY??!!!!"

"Look, guys; you two NEED to learn to get along. What better way to do so if I made you two go find Lamorak and Galahad together."

"BUT YOU _NEED _CALIBURN!!!!!!" I yelled, while Caliburn yelled, "YOU'RE MAKING A FOOLISH MISTAKE, SIR SONIC!!!!" Sonic just ignored us.

"Now, you two go and find them before Karaleena does."

"BUT-!" Caliburn and I looked at each other, growling and then sighed as we headed toward the woods.

_I'm gonna hate you for this, Sonic. _I thought to myself.

"Ok, like…Aren't we suppose to take a left from here?" I asked Caliburn, now feeling like we're lost in the woods.

"Not until another mile, Knave." He said. I looked at him, now getting ticked.

"Shut up, ya stupid sword and STOP CALLING ME A KNAVE!!!!!"

"I WILL IF YOU STOP BEING AN AMATEUR!!!"

"AN _AMATEUR_!!!?? LOOK, DUDE, I TOLD YOU THAT I'VE BEEN FIGHTING THOSE HEARTLESS SINCE DAY ONE!!!! I AM NO AMATEUR!!!"

"MY NAME ISN'T 'DUDE', KNAVE!!!"

"I KNOW THAT AND MY NAME ISN'T 'KNAVE'!!!" We growled at each other until some couple of Heartless shows up. "Oh, now that's just great!" I took out my sword. "Let's get this over with!" I charged and sliced one then killed one that was about to scratch me. Another one charges at me as I dogged and stabbed it through its chest, killing it. This continues for like about 5 minuets until they were all gone. "There…That's the last of 'em."

"Wow…You weren't joking about you've been fighting them for a while." Caliburn said. I smirked.

"See? Told ya."

"But you're still an amateur." I frowned.

"Oh, come on!! What's it gonna take for you to stop calling me that?!"

"If you proved yourself that you are worthy to fight alongside Sir Sonic, I would stop." I sighed in frustration.

"Ok, FINE!! Let's just get a move on already!" I said as I start walking again.

Caliburn's POV

A couple of hours later had passed and we haven't been at each other's throats. The girl just kept on walking, but I then suddenly noticed that she looked…upset for some reason.

"Are you alright, Knave?" I asked. Ignoring what I just called her, she sighed.

"It's nothing, Caliburn…" She said. I frowned.

"It doesn't_ look_ it's nothing to me." She sighed again.

"I'm…just having a bad flashback is all." I looked at her confused. _A back flashback?_ "You see…I was just remembering my Mom, Dad….and my brother, Cybor. They….they were murdered." My eyes widen in shock. "The Heartless killed my parents while Seth 'actsadently(sp?)' killed my brother…but that was no actsadent(sp?)." Her eyes were filled with tears.

"I'm….so sorry to hear that, Knave." I said, now feeling sorry for her.

"It's OK, really. Look, it's starting to get late. We should stop and rest for the night.."

"Good idea." I said as we stopped. The girl then got some twigs and branches and magically lit them on fire on the ground.

"There…perfect campfire." She said, smiling, but still has the upset look on her face.

"You really missed them…don't you?" I asked. She sighed sadly.

"A lot, Caliburn." She then yawned and lies down on the ground. "Well, goodnight." She said as she starts closing her eyes.

"Goodnight…Ariana." I said. She made a slight smile as we fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Third Person's POV

That night, as Ariana the Echidna and Caliburn the Sword were asleep, both Sir Gingalain, Sir Safir and Lady Palamedes were watching them within the shadows.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Gingalain asked Palamedes.

"The king said that we need to keep an eye on them to make sure they're safe, Gingalain." She said.

"I know, but I don't feel like that this is not such a good idea."

"Gingalain," Safir spoke. "Everything will be alright. The king knows what he's doing."

"Hope you're right, Safir…"

Ariana's POV

_(The next morning)_

As we were still walking through the woods for like about 5 hours (waaaaah!! DX), we suddenly saw a horse-drawn wagon overhead of us.

"Hmm, it seems that the wagon's heading towards the direction that we need to go." Caliburn said. I smirked.

"Well? Wanna hitch a ride, Cal?" I asked.

"Indeed, Ariana." Quickly, I dashed towards the wagon and hopped on, but didn't seem to get the driver's attention. "MAAAAAAAAAAN, my feet kills! This usually never happen to me before."

"So…What's 'Cal' about?" He asked, ignoring my comment. I looked at him.

"Well, it's a little nickname I wanna give ya. See, 'Cal' is short for your name." He puzzled for a little bit.

"Hmm, I…actually like the sound of that." With a huge smile on my face, we began laughing. I sighed and looked at the sky, watching he clouds go by peacefully as I lay down. "Man…the morning sky looks so peaceful…just like back home."

"So, what is your home like?"

"Mmm, it's kinda hard to explain actually."

"How so?"

"Well…there aren't any kings or queens there…at least not what I'm aware of, plus there aren't really any castles around either. Most of them a almost in ruin and stuff." I looked at him, noticing that something was bothering him. "Hey, what's up, Cal?"

"There's something that I wanted to know…who is this 'Seth' you spoke of?" My eyes darken sadly.

"Well, I'm not really sure WHO he is myself…but he's been causing a lot of terrible things. He killed so many lives…ruined them…including my own."

"So, how do you know him?"

"I've met him when I first met Nazo. He had fallen in love with me and I kinda did the same with him…but it never lasted. Me and the others thought that a woman named Zathura the Demon _was_ the Demon of Darkness, but we soon found out that _Seth_ was the Demon of Darkness."

"I see," He said. Suddenly, a fireball was shot near us as the horse screams in terror and began running out of control while the diver fell out of the wagon. I looked up to see some Heartless in the sky flying after us.

"They just don't know when to give up, do they?!" I asked as I quickly strapped Caliburn onto my back once again.

"Indeed they don't, Ariana." He said. I smirked as I got up and went into Fire Ariana (in red armor).

"Time to turn up the heat!" My one hand forms a fireball as I shot it at one of them, but they dogged it. I kept at it until I finally shot one out of the sky. "Bulls eye!"

"Ariana, this wagon's not going to last long!" Caliburn yelled. "We need to jump!"

"Are you crazy?!"

"Trust me! Now, get ready!" I nodded as I got myself ready to jump. "NOW!!!" I quickly jumped off and landed on the ground hard as I looked back to see the wagon crashed and the horse running away into the woods. I sighed.

"Well, so much for our ride." I looked up to notice that we've lost the Heartless. "Cool. Looks like we've totally lost 'em."

"Good thing." Caliburn said as I went back to normal, but then I sighed.

"Well…Better start walkin again. We gotta get to Lamorak and Galahad."

"Agreed." He said as I started off walking again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Caliburn's POV

_(About 12 hours later, that night)_

It seemed that we've been traveling for hours. The sun's already down and Ariana hasn't stopped walking. She looked as if she was in pain for some reason.

"Are you sure you don't want to stop and rest for the night, Ariana?" I asked. She nodded, her one eye closed in pain.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Besides, I think we're almost there. I can feel it." I frowned.

"Stop walking." She sighed and stopped as she then sat down. My eyes widen as I noticed that her ankles are bleeding. "Ariana, you're wounded!" She blinked in confusion and looked at her ankles.

"Oh, what ya look at that. I haven't noticed that." She chuckled. I looked at her in shock. How could she be laughing knowing that she's been seriously hurt?

"We need to treat that wound of yours before-"

"Hey, no sweat it, Cal. I'm totally fine. Besides…I get a lot more injuries then this. It's not really a big deal."

"But YOU'VE been walking for hours with these injuries!"

"So?" I stopped, realizing that it was no use of arguing with her. She's as stubborn as Sonic. Suddenly, a small purple butterfly appeared and landed itself on top of Ariana's nose causeing her to blush and looking at it confused. I couldn't help but laugh at her exprestion as she joined in. The butterfly flew away as more different colored butterflies suddenly starts flying all around us. We gazed at them all with amazment. "Wow...they're like dancing." Ariana said.

"It seems that way, Ariana." Suddenly, we heard a crack of a tree branch from behind us as all the butterflies starts flying away.

"What the-?" Ariana quickly took out her sword and we turned to see who it was. My eyes widen in shock.

Ariana's POV

We suddenly saw a green hedgehog in armer. My eyes widen in shock, reconizing him.

"S-Scourge!!?" I nearly screamed. He just stood there, his weapon out.

"I am Mordred, Knight of the round table and son of King Arthur." He said. My eyes widen, looking confused.

"Wait....Cal, isn't 'Mordred' like the **bad **guy who killed King Arthur?!"

"Unfortonally(sp?)....Yes." He said. My eyes widen even more.

"Yikes!!" Suddenly Karaleena shows up from the darkness. I growled at her in rage. "You!!"

"Aw, not happy to see me?" She asked, smirking evilly.

"What's goin' on here?! Why did you kept _him _alive?!"

"That's because he's the only one knight I like around here. Besides, he wishes to become King, so I'm going to help him."

"I'm not buying it, old hag!"

"Hmph! Soot(sp?) yourself. Mordred, smite them." She ordered as she disappeared. Mordred got to his fighting stance.

"It will be my pleasure." He said, smirking. I got into my stance, but grunted in pain, now just remembering my anckles being injured, but I ignored it.

"Bring it, traitor!!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Caliburn's POV

Mordred launches himself at Ariana, attempting to slash her, but she quickly flipped backwards, dodging his attack. Then she took out a blue coin and tossed it into the air.

"WATER!!" She yelled as her fur turned blue, having water magically surround her feet and is now covered in blue armor. I suddenly noticed that she was slightly levitating from the ground. She skated around Mordred and began shooting little light bullets at him from her sword. She kept at it until Mordred suddenly disappeared. She stopped and began looking around. Without a warning, Mordred attacked her from behind.

"ARIANA!" I yelled as she fell onto her knees. She grunted and quickly got back on her feet. She then returned to normal and took out her yellow coin as she tossed that into the air and became her Light form once again. She began slashing at him nonstop.

"That's it!" Mordred screamed and grabbed her arms and slammed her into a tree, making her yell in pain. He then put one of his two swords near her throat. "Now, time for you to parish!" Suddenly, a shadowy figure appeared and attacked him from behind, knocking him out and freeing Ariana from his grasp. Our eyes widened as we recognized who it was. It was Lady Palamedes. Both Sir Gingalain and Sir Safir appeared as well. Safir helped Ariana to her feet.

"Are you alright, milady?" He asked her. She nodded, her one eye closed in pain.

"Yeah, thanks for the save, guys."

"The king knew that you and Caliburn would get yourselves in some kind of trouble," Palamedes said. "and so he sent us."

"But we didn't expect that it would be Mordred." Gingalain pointed out.

"Yeah, apparently Karaleena kept 'im alive...for some reason." Ariana said.

"We better get out of here before he wakes up though." Safir said.

"I agree with Safir," I said. "It's best that we leave before he wakes up."

"Alrighty, then. Let's go." Ariana said as we quickly left the area of the woods.

* * *

Ariana's POV  
_(About 5 minuets Later)_/

"OW!! That hurts, Palamedes!!!" I screamed in pain as Palamedes was cleaning up one of my ankles with a piece of rag while the rest of us were sitting by the campfire relaxing at Stonehenge. (That's where Sonic first countered Gawain. XD)

"I am sorry, but I told you to hold still." She said. I whimpered in pain, not realizing that my ankles were **this** bad.

"See? I told you that we should have taken care of those injuries." Caliburn said. I pouted.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't remind me-OW!!" I screamed again.

"Hold still and they wouldn't hurt as much." Palamedes said. I continued to whimper in pain.

"So, how powerful is Karaleena anyway, milady?" Safir asked me.

"She's pretty tough, but her temper is pretty bad. Get her mad enough and she'll loose all of her-OW!!" I gave Palamedes a dark glare. "Seriously...that _really _hurts, Gothi-!!" I stopped myself. T_his ISN'T Gothica, you knucklehead!!_ "N...Never mind." Palamedes looked at me confused.

"Who is this **Gothica**, Ariana?" She asked me.

"She's a friend of mine. We've met when the Heartless attacked. She and I became fast friends ever since. I really haven't heard from her for a while."

"I see..."

"You see, you three look just like some people I know back where Sonic and I came from... like Gingalain looks just like my friend Keenan the Hedgehog and Safir...well...I'm not really sure at the moment." Safir glared at me even though I couldn't really tell from his helmet.

"Earlier before when we met, you called me 'Chen'. Who's he?" My eyes widen.

"Uh, NOTHING! WHO'S CHEN!? I DON'T KNOW ANY CHEN!" I said, laughing nervously. Safir didn't buy it at all.

"You're lying." I sighed.

"He's...some guy I kinda knew. He's been saving me a bunch of times and...I only saw his face once... that's just about it. Your voice reminds me of him at the moment."

"Do you _like_ him?" Palamedes ask. My face went bright red as Caliburn laughed at me.

"OK, I think it's time that we all get some rest." Caliburn said. We nodded in agreement as I silently sighed in relief.

_Good...Saved by the talking sacred sword._ I thought to myself as we fall asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

_(The next Day)_

We were almost there to the Crystal Cave as we continued to walk. My ankles were nicely bandaged up and were no longer giving me a problem as I was walking. Gingalain and Palamedes were talking about something while Safir was walking next to me (and Caliburn), not saying a word. I was starting to feel concern since he HASN'T said anything when we left Stonehenge.

"You feeling OK, Safir?" I asked. "Is somethin' bothering you?" He said nothing. Not a single word came out of his mouth. I pouted, starting to wave my hand over his helmet. "Hello! Camelot to Sir Safir! Are you gonna answer my question!? Heloooooooo!!" He suddenly grabbed my wrist. My eyes widen a little bit. "Um....You feeling OK?" I asked again nervously. He looked at me.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me, milady." He finally said, sounding so mysterious...just like Chen. I almost nearly blushed just thinking about it.

"Are you feeling alright, Ariana?" Caliburn asked me in a whisper. I probably guessed that he noticed me slightly blushing a bit.

"It's nothin', Cal. I'm just-"

"It's no use lying to me, Ariana. I saw you blushing."

"Safir's voice...it reminded me so much of Chen..."

"How did you first meet him in person...when you were able to see his face?"

"At a lake...where he first saved my life...during when me and Gothica were fighting Seth and Mephiles. He was concern about me and...before he left like he always does...h-he kissed me on the cheek. That was the last time I saw him face to face..."

"You really like this guy, don't you?" I slowly nodded.

"K-Kinda... I felt like I know him somewhere before...just dunno what though." We then finally came towards the entrance of the cave. "This must be it, right?"

"It is indeed." Gingalain said. I smirked.

"Then let's go on in!" I said as we all went inside.

* * *

"Lamorak?! Galahad?! Are you here?!" Palamedes yelled as we were looking through the cave like hours.

"Something's not right..." Caliburn said. "It's too quiet in here."

"You're right, Caliburn." I said. Suddenly, something came flying at us. "Watch out!!" I swiftly took Caliburn as we all dogged it quickly. I looked over to see that it was a sword, but it was flying like a boomerang and it was flying back to were it was being thrown. My eyes widen as I recognized who threw it; Lamorak. "Lamorak??!! What the heck are you doing??!!" I nearly screamed at him. He just stood there in attack position and threw his other sword at us again, but we quickly dogged it once more. "Stop it!!" I then suddenly saw Galahad, seriously wounded, his hand gripping onto the wall.

"He has been bewitched by that horrible female!" He warned. I growled in rage.

"Where is she?!"

"She's heading toward were we hid the scabbard!"

"I'm on it! Palamedes! Do you and the boys think that you guys can get Lamorak to snap out of it while Caliburn and I go after Karaleena?!"

"We will give it our best shot!" She said as me and Caliburn went off.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Caliburn's POV

As we went deeper into the cave, Ariana and I came across an entrance up ahead. There inside lies the Scabbard of Excalibur all by itself.

"Heh, looks like Karaleena hasn't found it yet," Ariana said with a smirk as she began walking towards it. She then picked it up. "Man, what's the big deal about this stupid thing anyway? It's just a regular scabbard to me."

"Fool! It wields the power of immortality!" I said to her, feeling a little offensive of her words.

"Heh, I'm already immortal, so like I said, this thing's i_just_/i a scabbard to me." I was shocked to hear what she said.

"You're an immortal?"

"Yeah...Kinda a long story." She then strapped the scabbard onto her back. "Now, let's head back with-" Suddenly a fireball came at us as we quickly dogged it.

Ariana's POV

"You're not going anywhere, sweet heart," spoke a female wicked voice. Karaleena then stepped out of the shadows, her hand out to me and Caliburn. "Now, be a good dear and hand over that scabbard."

"Over my dead body, old hag!" I said angrily. Karaleena frowns.

"You will do as I say...or else?"

"Ha! Or else what?" She smirked as she snapped her fingers. Suddenly, Mordred appears from the darkness, but has someone in his grasp. It was a beautiful yellow tan hedgehog with baby blue eyes, having purple flowers in her hair and is wearing a beautiful dress. I looked confused. _Who the heck is she? I never seen this person before._ Caliburn gasped.

"GUINEVERE!!" He yelled. I looked at him, now more confused than ever.

"Who?"

"That's King Arthur's wife, the Queen of Camelot!"

"Oh, so **that's** why that name sounded familiar." I said, now feeling sheepish.

"Now, then, you little brat, hand over that scabbard or the queen dies!" Karaleena ordered. Guinevere shook her head.

"No, don't! Don't give it to her, please!" She begged. I growled, but then I suddenly saw someone running towards us in great speed, screaming Guinevere's name. It was Lancelot!

"Lancelot!" I shouted. Lancelot quickly slammed Mordred out of the way, saving Guinevere from his grasp. I then quickly took out my sword and ran towards Karaleena as she blocked my incoming attack with her staff.

"Foolish child!" She screamed, trying to push me away from her. I smirked and quickly swing my leg under her, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Run!" I yelled to Lancelot as he nodded and ran off with Guinevere. Karaleena suddenly grabbed my ankle and made me trip and fall on the ground, but since she was putting so much pressure on it, I screamed in pain.

"Aw, what's the matter? Your ankles hurt? Here, lemme make 'em **feel** better." She crushed my ankle tightly as I screamed even more. With my other leg, I kicked her I the face and made her loose her grip. I grunted as I quickly got back up.

"Ariana, we must hurry and get put of here!" Caliburn said.

"W-wait! About that whole 'a Knight never flees his foe' thing?!" I asked.

"You're still injured from the last fight with Mordred last night! Hurry, before the dragon comes!" I nodded as we quickly ran off. We then quickly caught up with Lancelot, Guinevere, Palamedes, Gingalain, Safir, Galahad and Lamorak as we ran out of the cave together.

* * *

After a couple of hours later, we arrived back to Stonehenge safe and sound. I sighed in relief and fall onto my rear.

"Whew! That was a close call! My ankles hurts real bad!" I whined.

"But at least we got the scabbard and Guinevere's safe from Karaleena and Mordred." Caliburn said.

"Yeah, I guess that's some good news there." I looked at Lancelot. "Speaking of which, what are you doing here?"

"I was looking for Guinevere. She was captured by Mordred earlier when you and the king got back to the castle."

"Why didn't ya just tell us that beforehand? I could of taken care of that no problem."

"You're mission was to look for Galahad and Lamorak and to retrieve the scabbard before that witch does, Ariana." I frowned at him. Suddenly, Merlina appears to us out of nowhere.

"Merlina!" I spoke as she brushed her dress off, getting rid of the dirt.

"Is everyone alright?" She asked. I nodded.

"You bet'cha!"

"But a _certain_ someone's still pretty wounded." Caliburn pointed out. I frowned at him. Merlina giggled.

"Sonic and I already knew about it. We've been watching you from my reflecting pool. I must say, you two have gotten along with each other so quickly." I laughed sheepishly.

"We had our differences, but we were able to put 'em aside, right Cal?"

"Indeed, we have."

"We better head back to the castle," Safir **finally** spoke. "But, considering of Ariana's injuries, we cannot travel more on foot." Merlina nodded in agreement.

"I will gladly take all of you back to the castle. Once there, Ariana, your injuries will be treated immediately." I smiled sheepishly.

"Thanks for that, Merlina," I said as Merlina warped us back to Castle Camelot.

* * *

Sonic's POV

_(About 3 hours later)_

After Ariana got her wounds treated, She, Caliburn and I began talking about their first journey together.

"And then we jumped off the wagon! Boy, was that a close one!?" Ariana laughed. I laughed along with her.

"I'm surprised that you two weren't at each other's throats yet."

"We did at first," Caliburn admitted. "But, like she said to Merlina, we were able to put aside our differences."

"But we **still** have our moments." Ariana chuckled.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her.

"I'm fine. My ankles still hurts a little bit." Suddenly, she began laughing. Caliburn and I looked at her confused.

"W-what's so funny, Ari?"

"SCOURGE'S YOUR SON!!!!" She screamed, continuing to laugh uncontrollably. I looked at Caliburn, hoping that he would tell me what she met.

"She said that Mordred looks just like this 'Scourge the Hedgehog' character," he explained. At first, I didn't get it, but then I started remembering Merlina telling me about Arthur getting killed by his son. Finally, Ariana stopped laughing, taking a deep breath.

"The only thing I need to know is...Guinevere looks like..?" I realized what she meant.

"Oh! She looks like a friend I know name Calli the Hedgehog," I told her. She raised her eyebrow.

"Calli the Hedgehog?"

"It's a long story, but to cut it to the chase, she's Shadow's girlfriend."

"Ha! I KNEW he has a girlfriend! I knew it!!!" She said with a huge grin on her face. I chuckled sheepishly as Safir appeared in the room.

"Is everything going well here, your majesty?" He asked. I frowned, trying to get used to the fact that _I'm_ their true King Arthur.

"Yeah, everything's alright, Safir. Don't worry about us," I told him. I suddenly noticed Ariana blushing a bit. I looked at her confused.

"Understood," He spoke and then walked away.

"Are you OK, Ari?" I asked her. She suddenly slightly jumped out of her seat.

"Yeah! I-I-I-I-I'm fine! Fine! Uhhh... I gotta go!" She then suddenly ran out the room. Both Caliburn and I looked at each other confused.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Ariana's POV

"Ahg! What's goin' on with me!?" I screamed to myself as i kept on walking through the halls of Castle Camelot. "Everytime i_he_/i shows up, I get all 'Miss. Blushy blush'!! I gotta remember this; Safir's not Chen! Safir's not Chen! Safir's no-" Suddenly, I bumped into someone and fell onto my rear. "Ow!" I then suddenly gasped as I found out who I just bumped into. It was Safir! _Oh boy..._

"Are you alright, milady?" He asked as he held out his hand to me, wanting to help me up. My face went all red and quickly got to my feet.

"Yes! I'm fine! Fine!" I laughed nervously. He frowned.

"You don't look or sound fine to me, milady."

"I'm totally fine, Chen- I mean Safir!! Safir!" I smacked my head. _Oh gods, why did i just called him Chen!!!???? "_Sorry...I gotta go." Just as I was about to walk away, Safir quickly stopped me by grabbing me by my wrist.

"Are you sure you're alright?" I frowned.

_Of course I'm not fine. His voice is JUST like Chen's. He even sorta LOOKS like him too. _I thought to myself, feeling so fustraighted. "Yeah... I'm sure..."

"OK." He said as he lets go of my wrist. "Goodnight, milady." I couldn't help but watch him walk off. My face was as red as a tomato. I then screamed and smashed my head on the wall.

"Nice goin' Ariana! You almost blew it!" I screamed at myself again, feeling so angry with myself.

"Ariana?" Spoke a female voice. I gasped and turned to see Palamedes standing behind me.

"Oh, hey, Palamedes. What up?"

"Are you OK?" She asked me. I sighed.

"No... I just made a compleet fool of myself infront of Safir!!!" I smashed my head on the wall again, now my forhead's bleeding.

"Stop smashing your head! You're hurting yourself!" She pulled me away from the wall, preventing me from smashing my head on it yet again.

"...He sounds like him....he even sorta _looks_ like 'im too... Why am I acting like an idiot infront of him..?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I'm not sure. You're just having a difficult time telling who is who?" She laughed nervously.

"You're not helping..."

"Sorry, but you need to relax. Smashing your head isn't going to help get things straighten out in your mind."

"Right...owie..."

"Come on, you need to go to sleep."

"You know...you're right. 'night, Palamedes." I smirked as I warped myself onto the roof. The full moon looked so beautiful...so peacful. I sighed as I fell asleep. As I began dreaming, I suddenly found myself in a very dark room. It was very cold and foggy. I began shivering. "H-Hello?! A-Anyone here?!" I called out, but there was no responds. I began shivering even more as I began walking around the room. There's no door...no windows...NOTHING. Compleetly empty. I fell onto my knees, still shivering. "I-i-i-is anyone here?!" I called again, but then I suddenly heard a creepy evil laugh echoing in the room.

"Turn back, Ariana the Echidna," said the creepy voice. "Turn back from the light."

"W-who'a there?! Show your-" Suddenly I began to hear screams of bloody murder echoing in the room loudly as I blocked my ears. "STOP! MAKE IT STOP!!" I screamed. Suddenly, my nightmare got worse as the floor suddenly broke apart. I quickly grabbed the edge and looked down to see flames down below. I began holding on for my dear life as the creepy voice coninues laughing evilly. "HELP ME!!! S-SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!!" I screamed, now begging and crying for this horrifying nightmare to end. Just as I lost my grip and was about to fall into the flames, a hand suddenly grabbed my wrist. I opened my eyes and looked up to see who it was. My eyes widen. It was Chen...my knight in shining armor. He looked just like how I remembered him; a blue hedgehog with black stripes, a red crescent mark over his right eye, has yellow and emerald green eyes, and is wearing a black hooded cloak with light green strips on it. He pulled me back up and holds me close to him protectivlly. His hug felt so warm...so gental. I began to cry as I hugged him back. He began rubbing my back, trying to calm me down.

"Please don't cry, Ariana," He spoke with his mysterious warm voice. "I'm here." I couldn't stop crying. I was very horrifide. Before he was able to say something else, my dream ended as I woke up—but I wasn't on the roof anymore. I'm in the same bed room I've been in before.

"H-how did I...?" I asked myself, but then a I suddenly noticed Safir standing by the doorway.

"Are you alright, milady? You were having a nightmare," He spoke. I was surpised. _Did he bring me here? _I thought.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, Safir." I said. I suddenly began to feel cold as I began shivering. Safir then walked over to me and wrapped a blanket around me.

"It wasn't a best idea of you sleeping outside. It's too cold."

"Y-yeah, but I love sleeping outside. I'm not really sure why. I guess it's kinda a habbit of mine." He chuckled.

"Well, you better try to get some rest. It's still pretty late."

"Yeah, you're right. I just hope I don't have that nightmare again..." I said, but personally, for the first time in my life, I **want** to have that nightmare again. I began to have the desire of wanting to see Chen again. Just thinking about it made my heart beat faster.

"Are you going to be alright," Safir asked. I nodded. "OK. Good night, milady." Just as he was about to leave, I quicly stopped him by gently grabbing his wrist.

"Um, Safir...how did you know that I was having a nightmare," I asked him.

"I went to check up on you when I suddenly saw you screaming in your sleep," He said.

"But, why did you come to check up on me? I don't get it." He didn't respond. Obviously, he doesn't even know why he went to check up on me either. "N-Never mind... Goodnight, Safir."

"Goodnight, milady," he said as he left the room. I couldn't help but watch him leave. I sighed as I lie(sp?) down on the bed and fell right back alseep.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

_(The next Morning)_

I decided to explore around the castle a little more as I began to walk through the hallway. Just then, I met with Sonic and Caliburn, who were just talking about something.

"Hey, guys. What's goin' on?" I asked them. Sonic looked at me and smiled.

"Hey, Ari. You sleep well? Safir said that you had a nightmare last night."

"Yeah, I slept OK. You don't have to worry about me. So what were you guys talking about?"

"We're trying to figure out why Karaleena wanted the scabbard so badly. She's already immortal and all." I began thinking.

"I'm not sure myself, but for whatever the reason we cannot let her get her greedy hands on it." Caliburn nodded in agreement.

"Ariana is right. We must not let that happen. Whatever she's planing on with the scabbard might bring the kingdom to its knees," he said. Lancelot then shows up with Safir, Palamedes and the other remaining knights.

"Hey, guys. Is everything goin' alright?" I asked them.

"So far yes," Lancelot said. "There's no sign of the Heartless or Karaleena."

"So, where's Gwen?" I asked him, wondering where Guinevere is.

"She's in hiding right now with Nimue," Galahad said. "Mordred and Karaleena might be still after her."

"So, I trust my daughter to look after her," Lancelot added. My eyes widen a bit, but I shook my head.

"However, there has been some sightings of the Heartless in the Deep Woods near the lake," Lamorak said. Hearing that made Lancelot's eyes widen.

"What!?"

"Are you sure you saw some Heartless over that direction, Lamorak?" Sonic asked. He nodded.

"Afraid so, your Majesty."

"Ha! Don't worry. I'll take care of them no problem," I spoke. Caliburn rolled his eyes.

"Have you already forgotten that you're still wounded?"

"Oh, c'mon! My ankles are not that bad! Besides, who said I'm gonna take care of those punks on my own." I made a huge grin at him and Sonic. Sonic grined back.

"I get what you're sayin'. I'm in."

"Awesome!" I looked at the others. "How about you guys?"

"You can count on me," Gawain said.

"I'll go too," Percival spoke. The rest of the knights spoke at once, wanting to join in the party. Merlina then shows up.

"What is going on here?" She asked.

"We're going to take care of the Heartless in the Deep Woods," Sonic explained. "It maybe possible that they might be after Nimue and Guinevere." Suddenly, Merlina shook her head.

"Sonic, you have to stay here." I was shocked.

"W-why not!?" I asked her.

"The Heartless MIGHT be after Sonic too. It would be too risky to bring him into battle." I frowned. _She might be right, _I thought. Sonic shrugged.

"OK, then. I'll stay, but I want Caliburn to go along with Ari and the other knights to lend 'em a hand," he said.

"I guess that'll be OK..."

"Plus, I'm still keeping the scabbard with me," I added. "That way there won't be any 'Killing two Birds with one stone' theory involved." Hearing that, made all the knights and Caliburn give me the "are you crazy" look. "Oh, come on, guys! I'm VERY careful when it comes to guarding something with my life."

"I still think it's very unwise decision," Caliburn spoke. "You're going to end up putting all of us at risk."

"Do you want them to suddenly attack Sonic and Merlina when they're the ones barring the scabbard? I don't think so! Now, please don't give me a hard time about it, dull blade." He frowned at me.

"Fool..." I grinned at him while Sonic laughs at the comment.

"OK, guys. I actually agree with Ariana on the concept. It would be best that she keeps the hold of the scabbard while Merlina and I stay here," Sonic said. Palamedes sighed.

"Very well. I guess we'll allow it."

"Let's get going already!" Gingalain yelled. We all nodded as Me, Caliburn and the knights dashes off.

* * *

For hours once we arrived in the Deep Woods, we started fighting the Heartless and rescuing the villagers. Galahad used his Psychokinesis and his sword (that sorta looks more like a spear) at most of them while the rest of us took care of the rest. I turned into Shadow Ariana (purple fur and purple armor) to do some sneak attacks one couple of them while I became Spirit Ariana (orange fur and orange armor) to defend myself from their incoming attacks. I even became Forest Ariana (green fur and green armor) to attack those that were trying to attack my new Arthurian friends from behind. After we got rid of all the Heartless, we all hurried towards the lake.

"Nimue! Gwen! You girls here!?" I called, but...there was no reasons. This worried Lancelot. All of the sudden, a huge Heartless shows up and attacked Safir by slamming him against a tree, causing his helmet to get slightly cracked.

"Safir!" we all screamed. I (with Caliburn) quickly ran to help him when the Heartless forcefully smacked me away. Th knights charged at it and were making attempts on attacking it, but one by one...they were knocked down **hard**. This made me really ticked as I dashed and try to attack it again with my sword. It screams in pain as I slashed its huge arm and smacked me away again, but I quickly dodged it in the last second. I then quickly jumped back.

"That thing's tough, I can tell ya that," I said.

"However, we must get rid of it at once," Caliburn pointed out.

"I know that, Cal, but that'll be very tricky." I suddenly smirked. "Yo! Heartless!" I screamed as I began jumping up and down waving my hands in the air. "Hey, brainless monkey! Try to get me!"

"You fool! Have you lost your mind!?" Caliburn screamed at me, not believing what he's seeing. The Heartless got real angry as it dropped Safir and ran at me, getting ready to punch me. Quickly and swiftly, I dodged his attack in the last minuet and chopped off its arm with my sword. It screamed in horrible pain as i backs away from me. I showed him no mercy as I stabbed it through its chest, killing it.

"You were saying, Caliburn?" I smirked at him.

"You fool! You could have gotten us killed!"

"Oh, relax! I've handle this before way too many times." I walked over to Safir. "You OK?" He weakly looked up at me.

"Y-yeah...I'm alright, m-milady..." he spoke weakly. I held out my hand to him as I helped him up to his feet. The other knights weakly stood up.

"Is everyone alright?" They all nodded. I sighed in relief, but then we suddenly heard a wicked laughter echoing through the woods. I growled in rage, reconizing that laugh. Karaleena then came out of the darkness with an evil smirk with Mordred.

"Hello again, Ariana," she said. "Ah, and I see you've brought your little pals."

"What have ya done with Gwen n' Nimue!?" I growled. She frowned.

"Now _that's_ not how you speak to a lady, sweety. You got any manners?"

"I got manners...BUT YOU'RE **NO** LADY, WITCH!"

"Owch, that really hurts," she chuckled sinisterly. I ran at her as I was about to slash her, but she slammed me out of the way.

"ARIANA!" the knights screamed. Karaleena grinned as she snapped her fingers and made 20 Heartless appear. She then sent them to attack them as they ran at them and began fighting them. I growled angrily as I got back up on my feet.

"You won't get away with this, Karaleena!" I yelled angrily. She smirked and turned her staff into a long sword.

"Bring it, sweetheart!" I ran at her again as we clashed our weapons. We began struggling, trying to push each other, but she one and made me loose balance as she slashed my arm as I screamed in shocking pain. She then kicked me up into the air as she starts beating the crud out of me and slammed me onto the ground. I felt so weak and badly hurt as she walked over to me as she then took the scabbard from me. Before I was about to say anything, she kicked me in the stomach as screamed even more and began coughing up blood. "You've failed, echidna. Now, I think it's time for you...too go take a splash!" She grabbed my by my neck as she then blasted me into the lake...and then everything went black...

* * *

Caliburn's POV

"ARIANA, NO!" I screamed. Karaleena then got the hold of me. "Unhand me, you wicked woman! Only Sonic and can wield me!" She chuckled.

"Well, I hate to burst your bubble, you oversize letter opener, but once I'm done with him, he'll never be able to wield you ever again." Her hand began glowing pure dark purple as she suddenly brought me towards a huge rock near by. She then slammed me into it. My eyes widen.

"W-w-what did you do to me!?"

"Let's just say...You're now just a stupid sword in a stone once again. That way you won't be able to return to that hedgehog and save him from his fate!" She then began laughing wickedly. I began struggling to move, but I couldn't. I'm completely stuck in the rock. She then looked at Mordred. "Mordred, I do believe it's time to pay a _visit_ to the 'King'!" He smirked evilly.

"Then let's go see him," he spoke. Karaleena changed her sword to her staff again as she, Mordred and the remaining Heartless vanishes without a trace...

**To be Continued...**

* * *

**Note from **_**ArianatheEchidna**: Sorry that I haven't been on, everyone. So much to do, yet so little time. Well, I'm very excited that I got this far. ^^ Well, anyways, is Ariana the Echidna dead? Will Caliburn be free from the Rock? Where's the girls? What will happen to the kingdom of Camelot? Well, be on the lookout for chapter 15._


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Sonic's POV

(Back at Castle Camelot, Throne Room)

I'm now starting to get worried. It's been already almost six hours and Ariana, Caliburn and the others hasn't returned. I began to walk down towards the throne and sat down with Merlina standing by me.

"I'm worried, Merlina," I said to her. "They haven't returned yet."

"I'm worried too, Sonic. Maybe something horrible has happened to them."

"We gotta check on them through the-" suddenly, my ears perked up as I heard something outside; screams from the townspeople. Quickly, we dashed towards the window to see what's going on. There was an army of Heartless appearing one by one in Castle Town and were heading straight for the castle.

"Oh no...W-What should we do, Sonic!?" Merlina panicked. I quickly grabbed her hand and we started running towards the stairs and ran up towards the garden, but then as we got there I suddenly got attacked from behind and fell onto the ground. "Sonic!" I slowly tried to stand, but then someone slammed his or her foot on my back, forcing me onto the ground. I looked up to see who it was. My eyes widen in shock as I saw Scourge wearing armor standing before me.

"Sc-Scourge!?" I nearly screamed. He slammed his foot on me again making me scream in pain. Karaleena then shows up beside him.

"Hello, 'Your Highness'. How've ya been?" She asked with a sinister smirk. "I see you met your 'son', Sir Mordred." I growled at her angrily.

"Leave him alone!" Merlina screamed and was going to attack her, but Karaleena smacked her away and sent her to the ground, causing her to drop her staff.

"Merlina!" I cried, but "Mordred" slammed me again, making me scream even more. I then noticed something that made me widen my eyes in horror; the scabbard. "No..."

"Oh yes, Sonic. I finally have the scabbard in my grasp," Karaleena spoke proudly.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY FRIENDS!?" I screamed furiously at her.

"Well, I left one of them for dead. Um...who was that? Oh, now I remember. That blue eyed echidna." My eyes widen even more, now in complete horror.

"NO!" I cried, not believing what I'm hearing. This can't be! Ariana can't be dead! She just can't be!

"Oh, yes, Sonic. Your non-Arthurian friend is gone and since your sword couldn't return to you, you're nothing but a poor squire!" She laughs evilly. I looked down, feeling really upset about Ariana. "Now, time to make this kingdom ours!" I looked up as I saw her smash the scabbard into the ground as everything went black...

* * *

Ariana's POV

(at the lake)

I cannot hear anything around me as I felt myself falling deeper and deeper into the depths of the darkness. I couldn't breathe... I couldn't open my eyes. I felt completely...lifeless. Am I actually...dying? I thought. My body felt very numb…very cold, but then I suddenly felt something warm wrapped around me. W-what's happening? I felt myself being brought back up from the darkness, but still I couldn't breathe. My whole body suddenly began feeling really warm. Am… I being saved? I'm now really confused. If I'm being saved, then…WHO'S doing the rescuing? Though I still feel very numb, I suddenly felt a pair of warm lips on mine as I felt air entering my lungs. This made me want to cough up the water. I finally can feel everything returning to me. My body no longer feels numb and I am able to weakly open my eyes, however my vision was blurry. I saw three blurry figures kneeling over me, but the one in the middle got my attention.

"Are you alright, milady?" the figured spoke. I finally realized who it was when my vision became clear again. It was Safir. I then found myself in his warm arms. Did he just…saved me? I thought. I weakly smiled.

"Y-yeah. I-I'm OK, Safir.." I spoke. He smiled back.

"We were worried that you wouldn't wake up," Palamedes said, who was kneeling beside Safir. Gingalain nodded in agreement, also looked worried. I tried to get up, but I couldn't as Safir helped me up to my feet. Suddenly, the sky went dark. We looked up. "W-what is happening?" My eyes widen in horror.

"No… We're too late!" I yelled angrily. "Karaleena got to Sonic!" I then noticed Lancelot and Galahad running towards us and the other knights with Nimue and Guinevere.

"She even put a dark barrier around the castle!" Nimue said. "You won't be able to go and help him!" I frowned sadly. I looked over to see if I could find Caliburn, but then my eyes widen as I found him in a rock.

"Caliburn!" I quickly rushed to him. "Are you OK?! W-What happened to you?!"

"That witch slammed me into the rock and even place a spell on me so I cannot be removed," he said sadly. "Only Sonic can pull ne out…"

"We tried to pull him out while Safir dived into the water to help you and Lancelot and Galahad went to find the girls," Lamorak spoke. "But we couldn't get him out."

"Karaleena's spells are NOTHING like Merlin's, guys. They can be broken easily," I said. They just looked away from me. From there…I knew what's up. "C'mon, guys! Don't tell me you're giving up already!"

"Ariana… Karaleena has the scabbard, the King's now her prisoner, Caliburn is now just a sword in a stone and the kingdom is now in ruin," Gawian spoke sadly. "It's over. We've lost."

"NO WE HAVEN'T! WE CAN STILL SAVE HIM AND THE KINGDOM!" Percival lowered her head.

"How can we..?" She asked.

"I… I don't know, but we'll find a way! C'mon! Don't you guys remember what Sonic said to you before?! Isn't there more to being a Knight than just serving a King?!" Saying that made their heads jerked up to look at me.

* * *

Caliburn's POV

"Look, we can still save the kingdom! We got plenty of time! Don't you DARE give up on me! I can't do this alone!" I frowned at Ariana.

"You may have no other choice, Ariana," I said to her sadly. "I cannot come with you. As long as I'm stuck here, I won't be any use to you."

"Caliburn..."

"We're sorry, Ariana," Lancelot said. "But I'm afraid you're on your own." Galahad nodded sadly in agreement. This made her mad as she suddenly grabbed me by the handle.

"THAT'S IT! I'M GONNA PROVE THIS TO ALL OF YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL!" She began trying to pull me out of the rock as a suddenly flash of blinding light appeared. The moment I was able to open my eyes, I found myself free from the rock. My eyes widen in shock. The knights couldn't believe it either. Ariana smirked. "Believe me now!?" She asked.

"Unbelievable..." Gawain spoke. Lamorack began rubbing his eyes, not believing it either. Everyone else were just speechless. She laughed at them, but then she got serious as she raised me in the air.

"For the Kingdom and its people!" The knights looked at each other for a moment and they pulled out their swords and raised them into the air yelling, "For the Kingdom and its people" with her. Suddenly, we heard a horse drawn wagon coming this way fast. As we looked over, we saw who was driving it. It was the Blacksmith from Castle Town. He was having trouble controlling the horse as the wagon fell over violently and he off. Ariana quickly ran over to him with me.

"Are you OK?" She asked him. He panted hard, looking at her with fear.

"S-So many dark creatures! Th-The castle changed into a dark fortress by the wicked wizard!" He screamed. Ariana clenched her teeth angrily as she looked at Nimue.

"Hey, we need to know how get the barrier down now! Sonic and Merlina needs us fast!"

"There are nine dark spiritual crystals creating the barrier around the castle." She said as she magically made a map on the ground, showing the locations of where the crystals can be found.

"OK, so each of us has to go there and take 'em out!"

"I'll go to the Shrouderd Forest," said Lancelot.

"I'll head to the Great Megalith," Gawain spoke.

"I will go to the Cauldron," said Percival.

"I'll be in the Misty Lake to hunt it down," Lamorak said.

"I got the Dragon's Lair," Safir spoke.

"I'll go to the Crystal Cave," said Galahad

"The Molten Main is my kind of place," spoke Gingalain.

"I'll be in the Titanic Plain," Palamedes then said. Ariana nodded in understanding.

"OK, that's leaves Caliburn and I to take care of one in Avalon." She looked at the Blacksmith. "And if you want, you can tag along too. I may need your help." He nodded.

"OK, you can count on me, ma'am!" He said.

"Nimue, would please keep Gwen safe with you till this chaos is over?" She asked. She nodded.

"I will, Ariana, the Knight of Time." Guinevere looked at Lancelot with worry in her eyes.

"Please be careful, Lancelot..." She said. Lancelot looks back then smiles at her gently.

"I will, Guinevere... I promise."

"Alright, everyone! Let's do this!" Ariana said. Everyone nodded as each of the knights went their separate(sp?) ways, but I then noticed Ariana and Safir looking at each other for a moment before he departed for the Dragon's Lair.

"I can't believe you were able to pull me out of that rock," I said to her. She looked at me.

"Hey, I told ya that Karaleena's magic isn't like Merlin's. It could easily be broken with faith," She said with a smile. "Now, c'mon, o'l pal. We got a crystal to break and a 'king' to save."

"Of course. Onward... Ariana the Echidna, Knight of Time," I said as She, the Blacksmith and I went off.

* * *

**Note from **_**ArianatheEchidna**: Wow... After all these years, I totally forgot to post this chapter in here! XD; My bad! I've been thinking about what to do with this old story. I mean, my series for Ariana the Echidna had been changed. She's no longer called the "Knight of Time" crap or something like that. So, after I'm officially done with this story, I'm going to remake this along with some other old stories like I've planned some time in the future. Not to worry, I will keep this old version up so you all could do some comparison to each other and see which one you like the most.  
Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll update this story when I can. Sorry for the long wait~!  
_


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